Chinese passengers have gotten a bad rap in the news lately for poor behavior, but this time it’s not like they can be blamed for flying off the handle.
Twenty-eight people on board a Hainan Airlines flight to Beijing were injured yesterday when they suddenly achieved weightlessness and flew around the cabin, crashing into the ceiling and walls. Flight HU7148 was on route from Chengdu when passengers on board the plane encountered an unspecified “disturbance” around 2pm. At this time, personal effects like cellphones began to fly into the air as did passengers that were not strapped into their seats.
Passengers onboard the flight described the incident as being completely chaotic. Passenger Mr Lin did not have his seat beat fastened at this time, and said he flew up to the ceiling of the airplane. Miss Kan, another passenger, said luggage was flying everywhere during the period of weightlessness. As seen in pictures of the interior of the plane, walls of the plane cabin is seen to have been damaged by impact. Passengers who flew out of their seats sustained head injuries and some had cracked teeth.
Passengers also complained the airline crew didn’t tell them what was going on. Mr Lin said it was 20 minutes after the weightlessness when the cabin staff finally used the public address system to talk to the passengers, informing them they would arrive in Beijing within ten minutes. At this time, the captain said the plane had earlier hit some turbulence.
Passenger and Weibo user @PhotoByJade said she could hear the flight crew sob in fear as they used the public address system. Another passenger with the Weibo handle @kanshijie said when stewardesses finally did appear in the passenger cabin ten minutes after the incident, some of them had visible head injuries.
The A330 airbus arrived ahead of schedule in Beijing at 2:17pm. All 28 people were taken to hospital, some of them with serious injuries.
Hainan Airlines said the incident happened when the plane was descending to an elevation of 4,200 meters. An investigation into the cause of the incident is now underway.